SS Vienna (1873)
{{short description|Steamship sunk after a collision in Lake Superior }}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=Vienna (steamer).jpg |Ship caption=Vienna at dock. }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United States |Ship flag=Image:Flag of the United States (1867–1877).svg |Ship name=Vienna |Ship owner=Built for Cleveland Transportation Company. Owned by Orient Transportation Company at time of loss |Ship operator= |Ship registry= Cleveland, Ohio |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship builder= Quale & Martin of Cleveland, Ohio |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= |Ship completed=1873 |Ship christened= |Ship acquired= |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship identification= |Ship fate=Sank in Whitefish Bay 17 September 1892 after she was rammed by the Nipigon |Ship notes=United States Registry # 25875}} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class=Propeller, wooden steamer |Ship tonnage= 1005.79 Gross Register Tonnage 829.42 Net Register Tonnage |Ship length={{convert|191.33|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|33.66|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught= |Ship draft= |Ship depth={{convert|14|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=Propeller |Ship speed= |Ship capacity= |Ship crew= |Ship notes= Vienna was downbound with her schooner barge tow, the Matte C. Bell, when she sank. There were no deaths. }} |
The SS Vienna was built in 1873 during the era when steamers were built with sail rigging. She had a 19 year career marked with maritime incidents including sinking when she was just three years old. She sank for her final time in fair weather in Whitefish Bay in Lake Superior after she received a mortal blow when she was inexplicably rammed by the steamer Nipigon. Although there were no deaths when the Vienna sank for the last time, more than 100 years later her wreck claimed the lives of 4 scuba divers, the most of all the wrecks in the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve that now protects her as part of an underwater museum. Her wreck was stripped of artifacts that resulted in the Michigan Department of Natural Resources seizing her artifacts in a raid on the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in 1992. Her artifacts are now on display in this museum as loan from the State of Michigan.
Career
Quayle & Martin built the wooden steamer Vienna with an octagonal pilot house and sail rigging in 1873 for the Cleveland Transportation Company during the era when insurance companies still required ships to carry sails to maintain liability coverage.{{cite web |title=The Great Lakes Shipwreck File|url=http://www.boatnerd.com/swayze/shipwreck/v.htm |accessdate=18 August 2016 |publisher= Dave Swayze's Great Lake History}}{{cite web |title=Wreck of the Vienna: Blow-off Dive or Great Wreck Dive?|url=http://www.gue.com/?q=en/node/336|accessdate=3 March 2009|publisher= Global Underwater Explorers}}
Vienna had a series of maritime incidents during her 19 year career. In August 1876, she ran ashore at Presque Isle in Lake Huron and was able to get off. Her luck did not hold in October 1876 when she sank in Lake Superior with a cargo of grain when she was just three years old. She was rebuilt in 1875 – 1876 as a double-decker with three masts and increased tonnage. In September 1883 she sustained considerable damage when the Willow Street bridge swung into her in Cleveland, Ohio.{{cite web|title=Vienna|url=http://greatlakeships.org/2897860/data|accessdate = 18 August 2016 |publisher = Alpena County Public Library}} In 1887, she was assisted by the tug Leviathan when she was stranded on an uncharted {{convert|14|ft|m|lk=on}} deep shoal {{convert|1.5|to|2|mi|km|lk=on}} southwest of Waugoshance Light in the Straits of Mackinac with $1,800 in damages.{{cite web |title="Vienna",(Prop.), 1887 C85768|url=http://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/51253/data|accessdate=3 March 2009 | work = Maritime History of the Great Lakes }} In 1889, she was sold to Orient Transportation Company of Rockport, Ohio. In 1890, her rigging was changed to two masts. She sank for a second and final time in 1892.
Final voyage
In fair weather at 12:25 am on 17 September 1892, the steamer Nipigon was light and upbound in Whitefish Bay in Lake Superior towing the schooners Melbourne and Delaware. Vienna under Captain J.W. Nicholson was downbound from Marquette, Michigan and towing the schooner Mattie C. Bell. Both were heavy with a cargo of iron ore.Gerred, Janice H. "Wreck of the Vienna, "Great Lakes Shipwrecks", p.10. Voyager Press, Grand Maria, Michigan, 1978. G 525.G74 1978. Vienna and Nipigon exchanged signals for the normal port to port passing but the {{convert|191|ft|m|abbr=on}}, 626 ton Nipigon suddenly veered and rammed the {{convert|191|ft|m|abbr=on}}, 1,006 ton Vienna on the port side. Both vessels immediately dropped their consorts.Stonehouse, Frederick (1973). "The Great Wrecks of the Great Lakes: A directory of the shipwrecks of Lake Superior", pp. 68–70, The Book Concern, Printer, Hancock, Michigan, USA. LCCN 73-75623.Wolff, Julius F. (1979, 1990). "The Shipwrecks of Lake Superior", p. 67. Lake Superior Port Cities Inc., Duluth, Minnesota, USA. {{ISBN|0-942235-01-0}}. Nipigon tried to tow Vienna to shallow water but after an hour they were still about {{convert|1|mi|km|lk=on}} from shore when the ore-laden, mortally wounded Vienna dove into deep water.(1892 September 19.) "Sent her to the bottom." The Mining Journal, p. l. No one could explain why the Nipigon failed to obey her helm. Vienna was valued at $46,000 but she was only partly insured. Vienna's crew and papers were transferred to the lumber hooker Nipigon. Nipigon's stem and forefoot were badly crushed but she was not leaking much and she was able to proceed on her way. A tug towed Bell to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.{{cite news |title=Steam barge sunk|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1892/09/18/106890367.pdf|accessdate=3 March 2009|work=New York Times | date=September 18, 1892}}
Wreck artifacts
The wreck of Vienna was discovered in 1975 by the United States Fisheries R.V. Kohvo research vessel while setting fish sampling nets. She was then extensively explored by divers Kent Bellrichard of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Tom Farnquist, Director of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS) and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. Shipwreck historian Gerred wrote of Bellrichard and Farnquist's dives to Vienna:
They had made many trips to the wreck and brought up some interesting artifacts. Among them were a hand carved eagle atop the pilot house, the ship's wheel, wooden blocks, portholes, a telegraph bell, whistle pull, dishes, crocks, and a large grindstone. Farnquist, who is an expert on making lamps, book ends, and tables from wreck material, refinished the wheel. He mounted it against blue velvet with a polished frame of wreck wood. It is displayed at the Lake Superior College and will be donated to their future marine museum. The eagle also was refinished and donated to the museum ship, Valley Camp.
Michigan's Antiquities Act of 1980 prohibited the removal of artifacts from shipwrecks on the Great Lakes bottomlands.{{cite web |title = Michigan DNR 1992 Affidavit and Search Warrant and Investigation Report of GLSHS|url = http://www.whitefishpointwatch.com/dnr_1992_affidavit_of_search_warrant_and_investigation_report_of_glshs_1.php|accessdate = 3 March 2009 |publisher = Whitefish Point Watch}} The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) 1992 raid on the GLSHS offices and Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum included seizure of artifacts that were illegally removed from the Vienna.Storey, Jack, (4 December 1992). "Shipwreck artifact dispute simmers". Evening News, p. A1.
Artifacts from Vienna's wreck are on display in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum as a loan from the State of Michigan by a 1993 settlement agreement with the GLSHS following the DNRE raid on the museum in 1992.{{cite web |title = State of Michigan Settlement Agreement with GLSHS|url = http://www.whitefishpointwatch.com/settelement_agreement_between_state_of_michigan_and_glshs.php
|accessdate = 3 March 2009 |publisher = Whitefish Point Watch}} Vienna's wreck in now protected by the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve as part of an underwater museum.
Wreck diving
Vienna lies in {{convert|120|to|148|ft|m}} of water at {{coord|46|44.46|N|84|57.91|W}}. Vienna is one of the more accessible wreck dives in the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve because she is about {{convert|1.5|mi|km}} from shore.Harrington, Steve (1990, 1998), p. 328. Divers Guide to Michigan, p. 321, Maritime Press & Great Lakes Diving Council, Inc., St. Ignace, Michigan, U.S.A. {{ISBN|0-9624629-8-5}} She is known as a "blow-off" wreck dive because she lies closer to shore and extended-range divers go to this wreck during high winds and rough seas or when they have limited time. Her wreck is moored to protect her remains and enhance the safety of divers. However, the greater accessibility of Vienna belies her ability to ensnare even technically skilled, experienced scuba divers. The four diving fatalities on her wreck are the most of all the wrecks in the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve. Her remains are intact and upright and divers especially enjoy exploring her intact bow cabins.
In 1994, 102 years after Vienna sank, an experienced male diver who was a member of the Chippewa County Sheriff's Department died while diving her wreck.(08 August 94). "Sault Man Killed in Lake Accident." Evening News, p. A1. In 1995, an experienced male diver died of massive emboli after deeply penetrating the wreck, likely running out of air, and attempting an uncontrolled ascent without staged decompression.{{cite web |title = Vienna fatality 1995 |url = http://www.ship-wreck.com/shipwreck/projects/study/vienna1.html |accessdate = 3 March 2009|publisher = Brendon Bailloid's Great Lakes Shipwreck Research}} In 1996, an inexperienced female diver's body was recovered from the wreck of the Vienna in {{convert|147|ft|m}} feet of water when her companion diver who was her fiancé was unable to rescue her.{{cite web |title = Vienna fatality 1996 |url = http://www.ship-wreck.com/shipwreck/projects/study/vienna2.html|accessdate = 3 March 2009|publisher = Brendon Bailloid's Great Lakes Shipwreck Research}} A fourth diving fatality occurred at the wreck of Vienna in 1998 but details of the accident are not available.{{cite web |title = Vienna fatality 1998 |url = http://www.ship-wreck.com/shipwreck/projects/study/fatalities.html|accessdate = 3 March 2009|publisher = Brendon Bailloid's Great Lakes Shipwreck Research}}
See also
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
- [http://research.udmercy.edu/find/special_collections/print/marine.php Resource for Great Lakes shipwrecks]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_vY43dEsuM Video of the Vienna]
{{1892 shipwrecks}}
{{Recreational dive sites|wresit}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vienna}}
Category:Ships built in Cleveland
Category:Steamships of the United States
Category:Merchant ships of the United States
Category:Maritime incidents in 1892
Category:Ships sunk in collisions
Category:Shipwrecks of Lake Superior